Tobirama Senju (千手扉間, Senju Tobirama) was the Second Hokage (二代目火影, Nidaime Hokage, Literally meaning: Second Fire Shadow) of Konohagakure. He hails from the Senju clan, who, along with the Uchiha clan, founded the first shinobi village: Konoha. During his reign, Tobirama was accredited as the Hokage that developed the village's organisational system as well as some of its infrastructure.[3]

Contents

Background

Tobirama was a member of the Senju clan and along with his older brother Hashirama, both they, and their younger brothers Kawarama, and Itama were the sons of Butsuma Senju. As a child, Tobirama grew up in the Warring States Period where he became a shinobi of his clan. One day, he attended the burial of Kawarama, and several other of his clansmen alongside his father and siblings. Hashirama later ended up in an altercation with his father about the senseless killing of innocent children. This led to his father almost striking him again, but Tobirama intervened. Later, as the three siblings met up, they spoke of peace for the future and Tobirama stated his opinion about ending the conflict by giving the shinobi a code of conduct to stop the endless killing. He later admonished Itama for his way of thinking which sounded a great deal like the way the adults thought. Some time later, Itama was killed on the battlefield.[5] Some time after this, Tobirama was tasked by his father to find out where Hashirama was disappearing to. When Hashirama returned from one of these extended leaves of absence, Tobirama confronted him, informing him that their father requested to speak with him. When Hashirama questioned how Butsuma knew that he was meeting with Madara, Tobirama pointed out that he had tracked him down using his sensory abilities, which were far superior to that of Hashirama. He would later accompany his father to where Hashirama met up with Madara; here they were confronted by Tajima and Izuna Uchiha, the latter of whom Tobirama acknowledged by name.[6]

As Tobirama and Izuna clashed, unbeknownst to Tobirama, Tajima prepared to land a would-be fatal attack on him, which was deflected by Hashirama who returned to the battlefield. Shocked by this, the two sides reached an impasse, and Tobirama listened on as Madara turned down Hashirama's offer to broker peace between the two. As time went by and the battles between the two clans continued, on one of these occasions, Tobirama was able to mortally wound Izuna, forcing Madara to retreat from the battlefield with his wounded brother. The next time the Senju brothers encountered Madara again, he informed them that Izuna had succumbed to his injuries and had left him his eyes to continue protecting the clan. Despite revealing that he had acquired the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Madara was still defeated. As Tobirama was about to deliver the final blow, he was stopped by his brother who still wanted to seek peace. However, the jaded Uchiha noted that the price Hashirama had to pay for the Uchiha to regain his trust was either that Hashirama had to kill himself, or his brother.[7]

Decrying Madara as a crazed person, Tobirama questioned whether or not his brother intended to kill him. However, Tobirama was shocked when Hashirama — fully intent on going through with this — prepared to kill himself, but not before telling everyone present to swear that the feud between Senju and Uchiha would end. Though the act was stopped by Madara, and Tobirama later watched on as, Hashirama struck a peace treaty with the Uchiha and its then-leader Madara Uchiha and with Konohagakure's creation following soon after.[8], Tobirama never became any less wary of Madara for his actions, and the other Uchiha by extension. After retrieving his brother from what would become the Hokage Monument — notably sparing no word of greeting for, nor even acknowledging Madara — and hearing of the position of Hokage and his brother's intent to give it to the Uchiha, Tobirama noted that Hashirama could not arbitrarily make unilateral decisions like their father had, and that things had to be discussed and agreements reached through democracy. However, during their conversation where the topic of the impending threat of the Uchiha was broached by Tobirama, Hashirama noted that he felt as though they were being watched, but Tobirama noted that as he was not moulding chakra at the moment, he had not sensed anything.[9]

Team Tobirama and Hashirama.

When Hashirama, who was appointed the First Hokage, died, Tobirama was appointed as the Second Hokage.[10] During his reign he was primarily responsible for establishing Konoha's organisational system. He established various organisations such as the Academy, the ANBU, the Chūnin Exams and the Konoha Military Police Force,[3] the latter of which he created as a sign of trust towards the Uchiha who made up the majority of that organisation. The Uchiha, however, would come to believe that this was just an elaborate way to ostracise them from the village, and its government.[11]

He also trained a three-man team of his own, which consisted of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane.[13] In the anime, another one of his students was Kosuke Maruboshi. On one mission during the First Shinobi World War, on which Team Tobirama performed with Danzō Shimura, Kagami Uchiha and Torifu Akimichi, they found themselves surrounded by twenty elite Kumo ninja known as the Kinkaku Force. Tobirama then realised that the only way any of them could escape alive was for one of them to be a decoy and sacrifice themselves; therefore having faith that he had trained his students well, he chose to sacrifice himself after he selected his prized student Hiruzen for the position of Third Hokage. Homura and Koharu would later become Hiruzen's advisers. After giving the title of Hokage to Hiruzen, Tobirama went off to fight the enemies where he presumeably died a noble death.[14]

Personality

Even as a child, Tobirama was a exceptionally calm, composed, logical, rational, pragmatic, level-headed as well as a stoic, melancholic individual. He was very obedient to his father, as well as loyal towards his clan, but not to the extent where it clouded his judgement, as he was able to envision a rational way for the shinobi clans to achieve peace.[15] As a Hokage like his older brother, he felt a great deal of loyalty and devotion to the village, and placed its well-being above all else. He was willing to fight for the sake of his village against both Orochimaru and Sasuke when the latter claimed he is going to destroy the village. Tobirama was also described as being strong-spirited, and passionate.[3] During the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama was also willing to sacrifice himself by acting as a decoy to protect his own comrades. He taught Hiruzen to love the village and protect all those who have faith in him as the next Hokage.

More straight-laced than his exuberant brother, Tobirama was a realist by nature displayed during the First Shinobi World War when he, and his small battalion were surrounded by the Kinkaku Squad, Tobirama realised the only way out for his subordinates, and acted accordingly.[14] This was also displayed in his attitude towards the Uchiha whom he believed were almost all intrinsically cursed, based on his knowledge of them, as well as his own personal interactions with them.[16] Such logic-only personality led him to believe firmly in laws above anything else in terms of keeping peace and order, displayed in his youth where he came to the logical conclusion that if the adults wanted to stop the constant wars, all they had to do was create laws and abide by them no matter what.[17]

Between him and his brother, Tobirama had the more assertive and bureaucratic personality, easily being able to talk down his older brother who would sulk and obey his commands.[18] However, Tobirama would often at times follow Hashirama's commands when he saw how serious he was about a situation.[19][20] Tobirama also cares greatly for the village and, being pragmatic by nature, Tobirama valued peace and balance and owing to his belief in the ability of laws and establishments to keep things in order, tried in his own way to help the Uchiha from falling prey to their curse by placing them in charge of the Konoha Military Police Force, giving them a duty to focus their emotions into, so that history would not repeat itself and create another person like Madara Uchiha.[21] Ultimately Tobirama noted that while he was wary of the Uchiha, he held no hatred nor grudge towards them and noted that there were several Uchiha who transcended the mentality of their clan and also placed the well-being of the entire village and peace above all else. Citing his own subordinate Kagami who had inherited the Will of Fire. He went on to note that he actually kept a wary eye on all clans with potential that threatened to upturn the establishment of the village — noting that this mediation was what predominantly filled his role as Hokage, and that he was especially wary of the Uchiha only because they were exceptionally powerful.[22] He was often misunderstood in this respect due to his no-nonsense nature, chiefly by Madara, who thought that Tobirama would eliminate the Uchiha to settle scores as soon as he was made Hokage.[23]

In battle, Tobirama can be quite fearsome and merciless witnessed by his intentions to finish Madara off when the latter has already been defeated.[24] Tobirama also has the habit of folding his arms — a trait he's had since his youth.[25][26][27]

Appearance

Tobirama was a tall, fair-skinned man with white, shaggy hair, dark-coloured eyes — depicted as red in the anime — and three red markings on his face — one under each of his eyes, and one on his chin. In most cases, he wore the wartime attire of kin during his lifetime: armour emblazoned with the Senju symbol worn over a simple black suit, with a distinctive white fur collar. This armour was constructed from numerous blue metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body, in particular: chest, waist, shoulders and upper arms. This clothing was accompanied by sandals and a happuri engraved with the Konoha emblem, in the place of the more traditional forehead protector. As a child, his forehead protector bore the Senju clan's emblem.[28] Beneath his shoulder armour he wore two bands on each arm.

Outside of this outfit, Tobirama wore a simple, short-sleeved, blue shirt kimono with mesh armour underneath and held closed by a pale yellow sash, as well as blue pants and a bracelet of sorts on his left hand. In his youth, he wore a pair of pin-striped pants and shirt which left his arms exposed. He also did not have the markings on his face.[29]

Abilities

As the Second Hokage, Tobirama was an immensely powerful shinobi and was hailed as one of the most powerful shinobi of his era.[30] His power was such that he was able to defeat and ultimately kill Izuna Uchiha,[31] who was noted to be as powerful as his older brother. Danzō even noted in his time as Hokage, there was no shinobi who could match his prowess.[32] Due to his Senju heritage, Tobirama inherited an extraordinary life force, as well as powerful physical energy. Likewise, his chakra was also shown to be remarkably strong as he was able to crack a wall by simply placing his hand on it and releasing his chakra through it.[33] He was also able to resist the control of Orochimaru's Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, until the latter used Hashirama's DNA to strengthen the control.[34]

Sensory Perception

Aside from his battle prowess, Tobirama was also a very gifted sensor ninja since childhood. By simply touching the ground with his index finger, he could detect the presence and number of enemy shinobi.[35] He was even able to detect Madara Uchiha's chakra on a battlefield countries away.[36] His sensory skills were so refined and accurate that he could distinguish between different chakra signatures by clan, as upon sensing Karin, he determined she was an Uzumaki.[37] He was also able to notice how Orochimaru's new body was made almost entirely of Hashirama's cells.[38] He could use his abilities, along with his tracking skills, in order to follow a target undetected.[39]

Ninjutsu

Space–Time Ninjutsu

Tobirama was also very skilled in the use of Space–Time Ninjutsu. He was able to use the Flying Thunder God Technique with great enough aptitude that Minato Namikaze was shocked when he realised that Tobi was more adept at the use of Space–Time Ninjutsu than Tobirama and himself.[40][41] Stemming from his use of this technique, Tobirama could also use the Flying Thunder God Slash, which incorporated the use of kenjutsu and a sword to teleport to a target instantly and inflict a devastating wound to the enemy in a single blow.[7] Tobirama is also capable of transporting himself, and multiple people at one time.[42]

Nature Transformation

Tobirama using the Water Release: Water Encampment Wall.

Tobirama was primarily known for his legendary mastery of Water Release. He could use the Water Release: Water Encampment Wall in an area that lacked a pre-existing body of water by spewing water out of his mouth, then use the water produced to follow up with another technique, such as the Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique, using only a single hand seal to perform the latter.[43] He could further manipulate water by isolating areas within it and evaporating it at will.[44] These, among other reasons, are why he is revered as the greatest known Water Release manipulator in the series.[45]

In the anime, it is also shown that he could use the Water Release: Water Colliding Wave to attack and cover a large area with water. In areas with water, he could move and stay underwater for a considerable amount of time without detrimental effects. In addition, he could use tendrils of water to grab hold of his target or pull it underwater in order to drown it. He could also launch large pressurised missiles of water which were even capable of destroying a chakra-infused earth wall.[44]

Kenjutsu

Tobirama was a practitioner of kenjutsu since childhood; at one point, he was seen wielding a sword against Madara's younger brother, Izuna Uchiha.[7] Tobirama was also able to use the Flying Thunder God Slash technique to mortally wound Izuna on the battlefield, taking the Mangekyō Sharingan-wielding Uchiha by surprise.[7] In the anime, it was said that he wielded the Sword of the Thunder God, a blade with electrical abilities, and he was said to have mastered its use despite the blade's lethal nature.[46]

Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation

During his lifetime, Tobirama created the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation technique;[47] however, some time after its creation he labelled it as a kinjutsu.[48] Despite this, he did gain enough renown with this technique that those who were reincarnated with the technique immediately thought it was Tobirama's doing.[49][50] Along with this technique he created a fighting style to accompany this which could be described as Kamikaze in nature where,[51] because the person has an immortal body, techniques that generally could not be used either at close-range or any at all become possible. One such technique is the Intersecting Explosive Tags which creates a near-infinite chain of explosions on a target.[52]

Part I

Invasion of Konoha Arc

Both he and Hashirama were reincarnated by Orochimaru, using Impure World Reincarnation, to fight Hiruzen during the invasion of Konoha, although it is later revealed that due to Orochimaru's lack of mastery of this technique Hashirama and Tobirama were not reincarnated with their full powers. While fully aware of what was going on, and saddened that he would have to fight his former student, Orochimaru employed a special seal into the back of their heads to rob Tobirama and his brother of their free will. Hiruzen quickly resolved to kill his masters and used a very powerful fire technique that was easily countered by one of Tobirama's walls of water that was then turned into an attack that was stopped by Hiruzen's own earth wall.

During the battle, he demonstrated great teamwork and combination attacks with his brother, forcing Hiruzen to summon Enma for assistance. Hiruzen was however in his old age unable to defeat the two Hokage, as any damage that was done was simply regenerated and was further inhibited by his desire to not hurt either. His soul, along with his brother's, was eventually sealed by Hiruzen when he combined the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and the Shadow Clone Technique to strike both of them at the same time. Before his soul was completely removed, he and his brother apologised to their former student for the trouble they had caused.[56]

Cursing Orochimaru initially, Tobirama and his brother listened on as Hiruzen and Minato explained what had happened. With his arms still crossed, Tobirama looked down the line with his brother at the Yellow Flash questioning who he was, before promptly being shown the haori emblazoned with the title of Fourth Hokage. Not one to be side-swept, Tobirama questioned the ease of use Orochimaru displayed with the technique he had invented only to be told the technique was not a hard one to learn but one which should have never been created. Orochimaru's response led Tobirama to accuse the Sannin of planning to attack the village once again sending Hiruzen into outrage. Later admonishing his brother to be quiet as he spoke, Tobirama later chided the Uchiha clan openly to which Orochimaru contracted that it was Tobirama's fault that it happened in the first place as he gave the Uchiha the Konoha Military Police Force to run and essentially ostracised the Uchiha. Rebuffing this, Tobirama explained the Uchiha clan's greatest curse: the fact that they had a greater love than any other person which if lost would turn into bottomless feelings of despair awakening the Sharingan as a result. He then explained that it was for this reason that he gave them that post so they would have something to focus their emotions on so that the world would not end up with a second Madara, who had suffered the loss of his brother whom he loved more than anything, on their hands.

Upon hearing the question posed to his brother and the reason behind it, an enraged Tobirama tells Sasuke that he would not allow him to harm the village and begins raising one of his fingers. Sasuke, Jūgo and Suigetsu all tense up in fear before he and Hashirama have an intense stand-off, as his elder brother told him to lower his finger. Tobirama finally obliged as the Naka Shrine almost collapsed around them. Later told that Madara was on the battlefield, Tobirama sensed and confirmed this which lead him to declare that he was heading to the battlefield. Ignoring Orochimaru's threat to bind him further, Tobirama told the Sannin that his refining of the Impure World Reincarnation was to his own detriment as they had been reincarnated at nearly their full power in life. Tobirama placed his palm on the wall, causing it to break, intending to leave. However, Orochimaru was able to stop Tobirama's movements thanks to having Hashirama's cells. Finally succumbing to his brother's wish to save Sasuke from the impending darkness. Tobirama listened on as Hashirama retold the history he had lived through.

With Hashirama's story finished, Tobirama confirmed that indeed many Uchiha had transcended the limitations of their clan such as his subordinate Kagami. Clearing up the misconception that he hated the Uchiha, Tobirama explained his role as the Second Hokage had been to mediate between the various clans and the well-being of the village, and that he kept a wary eye on all clans that posed a threat to the latter's stability. Later, with Sasuke's decision made to protect his brother's sacrifice, Tobirama informed Hashirama, who had instructed him to prepare to transport them, that with Orochimaru binding them, he would not be able to do so. They later made their way out of the Naka Shrine, where a new addition to their group appeared. Answering Hashirama's question he noted that from Karin's chakra, she seemed to be an Uzumaki. Later he was sighing deeply as his exuberant brother directed them to their respective faces on the Hokage Monument; there atop his likeness, Tobirama vowed to stop Madara once and for all.

Arriving with the cavalry, Tobirama lauded Minato who had arrived before them for his speed, and skill with the Flying Thunder God Technique. When Minato accesses the Yin portion of Kurama's chakra that he had and called Tobirama and Hiruzen to him, Tobirama was once again impressed by Minato's initiative of marking the battlefield. When Minato transports Tobirama to the marked location to his designated location, Tobirama and the other Hokage use the Four Red Suns Battle Encampment barrier to trap the Ten-Tails. After his brother added an extra measure of restraint, Tobirama and the others prepared their counter-attack on the beast. When the beast attempted to launch another Tailed Beast Ball, Tobirama and the other Hokage kept the barrier intact, completely nullifying the attack, leaving the Ten-Tails as the only injured party. Tobirama then marvelled at the level of Sasuke's Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi noting that he had never seen one so powerful, and later commended Naruto and Sasuke's teamwork, noting that a feat like that was not easy to pull off even for the most synchronised teams.

Tobirama's attention was later called to Obito's cries atop the Ten-Tails. Realising that Madara was using the young man as a medium to revive himself, Tobirama and his brother sprung into action to stop the Uchiha's plot. Creating two shadow clone which led Tobirama to lament that while maintaining the barrier, this was his limit in terms of clones. Rushing towards where Madara was, the original Tobirama was shocked to see Minato arrive atop the beast, and cut Obito down. As he looked on, he realised that Minato had actually created a shadow clone himself, and teleported to the enemy, leading Tobirama to wonder if Minato had marked the target already. Despite his injury, Obito still became the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, and was quickly confronted by Tobirama, Hashirama, and Hiruzen. As the three Hokage discussed the situation, noting that Obito was now more powerful than them in any case, the young Uchiha quickly dispatched Hashirama and Tobirama with ease, destroying large portions of their bodies.

Calling out to Hiruzen and Minato to move out of range, it is revealed that Tobirama was able to react to Obito's attack and plastered the young man with explosive tags. Calling out to his brother who also prepared to act, Tobirama detonated the explosive tags giving Hashirama the opportunity to bind Obito. Noting that as the creator of the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation technique, he had also created the unique fighting style which accompanied it, and, after piercing his chest with his own hand, threw out a myriad of paper which turned into explosive tags and attached themselves to Obito. Noting that the tags would keep summoning more and more tags, Tobirama sets off a chain of explosions to buffet Obito with. However, the mysterious substance which the young Uchiha had formed, protected him from the explosions.

Legacy

As the Second person to hold the title of Hokage, Tobirama noted that his role was to sustain society during the period of time where persons who initially belonged only to clans and thought of only the well-being of their own kinsmen, had to start thinking collectively of the village as a whole instead of just their own interests. Because of this, he had to keep an eye on clans that posed a threat to the village, such as the Uchiha amongst others.[57] He was known for building Konoha's infrastructure and revolutionising the ninja system on a whole by establishing organisations such as the Academy, and ANBU: institutions and organisations adopted by most if not all of the Five Great Shinobi Countries as well as smaller ones. He also believed greatly in the Will of Fire and putting the good of the village above all else, beliefs which he passed on to the next generation.

Tobirama also set up the Konoha Military Police Force and assigned the Uchiha to it as a sign of trust. He in fact knew how unwieldy the Uchiha's emotions were and sought to have them focus their efforts of a single, constant goal all the while protecting the village as well. This, however, actually contributed to the Uchiha's demise as some came to see it as a means to ostracise them from the rest of the village and its governance and eventually led to the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Tobirama was also responsible for the creation of the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation technique, which was used in initially by Orochimaru in his quest to destroy Konoha and Kabuto Yakushi's attempt to fuel the Fourth Shinobi World War. Inadvertently, however, this had the reciprocal effect of having the dead make amends for the wrong they did during their life, the Fourth Kazekage and his son Gaara being prime examples. Orochimaru was also able to reincarnate the three other previous Hokage to participate in the Fourth Shinobi World War, providing invaluable support and also helping Sasuke Uchiha escape the Curse of Hatred. On a whole, Tobirama is still revered as an extraordinary shinobi, and trail-blazing Hokage who made invaluable contributions to the shinobi world.

Trivia

'Tobirama' (扉間) means 'the space between two doors'. 'Doors' (扉, tobira) are seen as the access to progress and improvement which alludes to his role as the Hokage that built up Konoha's infrastructure. '扉' is also used to refer to title pages, tying in with the Hokage title, as a Hokage is as representative for the village as the title page is for a book.

Tobirama, along with Hashirama, Minato, and the Konoha symbol, had his face appear in the ending omake of Shippūden episode 129 within the fireworks.

In many of the games they are present in, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju bear each others respective English voice actors, with Hashirama being voiced by Peter Lurie, and Tobirama being voiced by Jamieson Price.

In the English version of Naruto Part I Hashirama is voice by Jamieson Price and Tobirama is voice by Peter Lurie, but in the English version of Naruto: Shippūden Hashirama is voice by Peter Lurie and Tobirama by Jamieson Price.

Quotes

(To Hashirama and Itama) "Grown-ups are idiots. If they really want to bring an end to this endless fighting, they need to sit down with one another and reach a truce…"[58]

(To Hiruzen) "Listen Saru. Guide the people, and believe in them, for it's from among them that one will come who will carry on when your time is done."[59]

(To Danzō and Hiruzen) "I will be the decoy… you are the bright young flames who must protect the village. Danzō, you and Saru have always been rivals in everything… But what we need now is unity. Don't bring your personal squabbles into this. It's true I was slow with my decision. First you must look within and know yourself without losing your calm. Right now you will just bring danger upon your friends. At any rate… Danzō… Saru… there's no need to be hasty at your age. One day the time will come. Just stay alive… until then."[60]

(To Hiruzen) "Saru, you must protect those who have faith in you and who love the village, and train up to those to whom you can entrust the next generation… from tomorrow, you will be the Hokage…!"[61]

(To Sasuke) "My brother believed that the village was was something that demolish the boundaries between clans. Well in the end it wasn't that simple… My brother was too soft… and Madara too dangerous… My role as Second Hokage was to mediate between them while protecting and reinforcing the village."[62]